Journal Entry

I cannot ignore that there is an ever-present yearning and desire that pulses within me. It throbs for gratification and fulfillment. It makes me want to wander this entire globe in search of this in-definitive "something," that I might suddenly experience it, discover it, or some other sort of quickening to quench this thirst I've had since childhood. I want to search it out in evergreen forests, fields of tall, golden grass, desert sands, moonlit nights, in the eyes of other children of God, in the eyes of every living creature. It is in all of these things, yet it is fleeting. It has the power and potential to move me to tears in a matter of seconds. It gives life a meaning often realized only in night time dreams; that elusive, intangible fulfillment that permeates the the images played out by one's subconscious right before it fades into oblivion, as full consciousness begins to settle in.

Yet somehow, I don't believe that all of the wandering in the world will lead me to its attainment. Somehow, I know it's right here inside of me. This yearning I have is perhaps the yearning for it to explode into expression. To be fully expressed would be would mean ultimate gratification.

The Law of Attraction (here we go again...)

About 6 months ago I stopped believing in the Law of Attraction, or at least the accuracy therein. And do you know what I found out? I found out that even when you don’t believe in it, it still continues to work with perfect precision! So while I now go about my day in a manner far removed from my previous Mode of Operation, that darn Law of Attraction keeps right on making itself evident in every area of my life. The Law of Attraction is real whether or not we give an ounce of credence to it. It is inherent. It is infallible. It is unavoidable.

Awaken

One little moment of clarity is all you need to unlock the infinite potential that lies within, and in doing so, you can become a source of miracles. What miracle might you create? Besides the fact that the very act of creation itself is miraculous, you can create Heaven on earth. You may have been led to believe that you are defined by weakness, greed, or poverty. That is not you, that is an illusion. How you are defined by others has no relevance when you finally wake up and unplug from the matrix. Open your eyes and realize who you already are – a child of the Divine. Realize what you already are – infinite. Realize where you already are – in Heaven. Choose to awaken, and you will soon become well-acquainted with your unlimited potential.

The following is borrowed from Marianne Williamson's book A Return To Love, and has made the rounds on the internet since its initial publication over 16 years ago. It doesn't just bear repeating, but it is in harmony with the theme of this post, and couldn't be more well written:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Religion and Dogma

Look up the definition of religion in the dictionary and you’ll discover several definitions under the one word. Here is one in particular: “something one believes in and follows; a point or matter of ethics or conscience.” When the concept of religion comes to mind I’m sure most people think in terms of an organized, specific, and fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a group of people or sects. But it occurred to me that with the above definition in mind everyone has a religion. Ask an atheist what his/her religion is and he/she will tell you, “I’m an atheist.” All religion really is, is a system of beliefs. But whether a person defines their beliefs by a known system such as Christianity, Paganism, Buddhism or Islam, or uses more abstract and vague terms to describe their own unique set of beliefs, or whether one flatly denies the existence of a higher power (this, I may never understand, although I am humbled by humanity’s endless diversity), how one views the nature of reality is really one’s religion.

There is certainly a substantial amount of unfavorable attention that has been had concerning the subject: Jihads and holy wars, hypocrisy, superstition, fear, fanaticism, ignorance, blind acceptance, self-righteousness, rigidity, inquisitions, dogmatism, cruelty, prejudice, persecution, animal sacrifice, human sacrifice, book-burning, witch hunts, conformity, morbid guilt, insanity, even genocide just to list some that fall under the broad spectrum of atrocities committed and conditions endured for the sake of religion.

How is it, I wonder, that an atheist might have a more highly developed sense of Christian morality, for example, than say, a Catholic who routinely attends mass or a Protestant who is faithfully attends church? The problem is not religion, the problem is people. People tend to be dogmatic. An atheist can be just as dogmatic about unbelief as a believer can about belief. Therefore, it is not religion or beliefs that we need to shake off, it is dogmatism.